Pretending
by gaypokemontrainers
Summary: Judging by the way Hugh made it sound, pretending didn't seem so bad.


"_**Pretending"**_

Summary: Judging by the way Hugh made it sound, pretending didn't seem so bad.

Hugh had a heavy burden and a lot to worry about, yet here he was with his bright eyes facing up. He gazed at the setting sun like he was waiting to greet the moon and his expression was calm like he was suddenly at peace with the tainted, unforgiving world. Only the simple things had his attention, now. The colors of the sky and the scent of the summer air filled his senses and not once did he let the pain of his past or the uncertainty of his future phase him. He was living in the moment, getting all that he possibly could from it before letting it pass him by.

Cheren currently envied him a little too much. Though Hugh's mind was occupied by thoughts of Team Plasma and the desire to return a stolen Purrloin to his younger sister, he still managed to enjoy the scenery. How did he do that? Was he bipolar?

When Cheren was stressed, he stayed stressed. Being a new Gym Leader and all, he had many doubts that came with adjusting to the position's responsibilities. To make matters worse, he was away from his Gym where he was supposed to be bettering himself. It was all Team Plasma's fault, too. Aside from Gym Leader issues, the black-haired young man also had his side-job as a teacher to fret about. There was Black, his childhood friend and former love interest, too. Black had been missing for quite some time, now. What if something happened to him? If he even began to start guessing again, Cheren would worry himself into the figurative corner that was anxiety. He needed to calm down or else he would start sweating and Hugh would notice. That wouldn't be good.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Cheren with hesitance to the slightly younger male. As he awaited a response, his eyes scanned over the vast sunset that filled the sky with color like paint on an empty canvas.

Hugh turned to him, a slightly-confused look on his face. "I'm not thinking about anything right now- nothing important, at least. Why do you ask?"

An obvious hint of awkwardness sunk down upon the two as Cheren wasn't exactly sure what to say next. What did Hugh mean by that? Hugh was usually too angry to be as calm as he appeared.

"I... uhh... I'm sorry. I just figured you'd have something on your mind, what with the recent events," Cheren forced out nervously, wishing he hadn't interrupted the silence.

Hugh chuckled, motioning for Cheren to sit next to him. He would never tell anyone, but he was beginning to notice more and more how cute the Gym Leader could be. This was one of those occasions.

"Sometimes," the slightly younger male began, brushing his wild hair away from his face as the wind blew it in the wrong direction, "I try to pretend that the problems of the world don't exist- that everything with be just fine if I keep doing what I'm doing. In reality, life is far from a simple walk in the park, but who says I can't pretend that reality doesn't exist for a little while?" He rose his head higher to the sky, his face glowing under the warm shades of orange and red. "Don't get me wrong; I get carried away with my emotions a lot and, at times, it's totally impossible to pretend. However, when the sky looks like this, I feel like I can cut myself a little slack. It's important to notice the beautiful things when you're in the middle of a storm. Reaching a goal is easier that way and keeping that in mind is good for maintaining sanity."

Well, that was certainly unexpected.

Cheren let those words sink in before even considering a response. In all honesty, he was a little surprised. Hugh had a unique way of thinking and, in an odd sense, Cheren felt a little more interested in him. Was that good?

It couldn't be.

The last time Cheren gave a boy his attention, disaster ensued.

"Surely that's not as easy as you make it sound," the Gym Leader blurted out, hoping he wasn't silent for too long. Although Hugh's idea of pretending intrigued him, he didn't quite understand it yet. Therefore, he found it irrational. "How can you just drop what's bothering you and temporarily forget?"

Hugh almost felt a little offended by that, but he quickly abandoned any sort of negative energy before it had the chance to build up. He didn't want to _'unleash his rage'_ right now. "I just implied that it doesn't work all the time. Also, I don't 'drop' anything; I just find something good to focus on to prevent myself from going completely nuts. You should try it, Mr. Gym Leader." The very second that statement reached Cheren and caused him to frown, a smirk found it's way onto Hugh's face.

Cheren was cute- like, _really_ cute.

"What do you mean by that!? Do I appear stressed to you?" asked the Gym Leader, instantly getting defensive. Beads of sweat were on the verge of forming on his forehead and, if things continued the way they were going, his bangs would be soaked within minutes and they'd be in no shape for anyone to see. _Lovely._

Hugh snorted. "I didn't say anything about you being stressed. That was all your doing," he said, almost forgetting about the spectacle above them due to how much fun he was having all of a sudden. "Are you sweating?"

Oh, no. He noticed. Why did he have to notice?

Turning away, Cheren gave a snappy-sounding "no" and pretended to adjust his tie. Right now would be a good time to find out why he suddenly felt so- dare he admit it- _nervous _around this peculiar male specimen. Although it had been a long time since then, he remembered feeling the same way around Black. He didn't like this at all. Hugh just added himself to his repertoire of personal issues.

"Whatever you say," replied Hugh, laughing like mad on the inside. He may have had feelings for his current best friend, Nate, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy Cheren's company. Truth be told, being around the uptight Gym Leader aided his little game of 'playing pretend.' The battle against Team Plasma didn't seem so bad when he got to occasionally tug on his strings.

After doing it about five or six times, Cheren was finally finished messing with his tie. He figured it'd be best if he held back on speaking for the instant and tried to calm down, instead. Judging by the way Hugh made it sound, pretending didn't seem so bad. Though his stubborn-side didn't believe it would work, he secretly wanted to give it a try.


End file.
